[OZ_341]

First of all, I just want to say that the Firebirds Rock!! We are looking forward to seeing you at Ramp Riot!

My advice is, just make your team fun. Dream up some school event or reason to demonstrate your machines. Sometimes our team will just practice in public areas of the school just to watch confused people scratch their heads. Kids will always come up and ask questions. Also be open to diverse groups of recruits and keep the faith. Everything else will follow.

As far as the stigma of geekdom goes, we laugh at people that laugh at our team. When people try to stereotype our team, we get in their face. We love our geeks, but we also recruit athletes, artists and business oriented people.
FIRST is NASCAR, FIRST is a Sport, FIRST is an adventure! I go crazy when anyone on our team calls it the Robotics "Club". We are a TEAM!!!

I guess what I am saying is get some attitude. What you are doing is amazing! We have grown through word of mouth. Friends recruit friends. It is amazing how far a little attitude goes.

In terms of female recruiting, we are about 40% female. We have strong female role models, both in terms of mentors and students. Nothing makes a student want to join more than seeing someone like themselves being successful and supported.